The Culver City Sister City Committee is sharing the unveiling of the new Capo d’Orlando Room at the Veteran Memorial Building, including a unique artwork commissioned from Lori Escalera. The event, on January 30, 2026, will begin at 7 pm, and light refreshments will be served after the presentation.
The new name for the room at Vets is dedicated to Culver City’s newest ‘sister,’ the city of Capo d’Orlando on the island of Sicily in Italy.
A custom tiled mural designed and created by Escalera will premier at the ceremony. Escalera, who has been the go-to artist for the Sister City Committee, is a former resident of Culver City widely known for her chalk art. That she also works in tile takes her to the other side of the art spectrum; chalk art lasts a few days, tile art can last centuries.
“What inspires the Sister City [people] on their travels is what inspires my art – there are a lot of intricacies, which people may not think about; tile is an art form the goes back thousands of years.” Escalera spoke about her conception and design of the Capo d’Orlando piece.
“When you visit Italy, you see the ancient tiles that are still in existence. The stability, the lasting power that tile has [is well-known.] Tile is fired with glass as part of the process to set the pigment – it’s like painting with ground glass. Then you heat it to 2000 degrees. That lasts pretty much forever.”
For this art work, Escalera offered, “I use “low fire” glaze, a one step process on pre-fired bisque tile.”
The CCSCC will also introduce the Culver City High School Student Ambassadors participating in the inaugural student exchange during spring break and their chaperones.
PLEASE RSVP to Mara Bommarito, Culver City Sister City Committee Capo d’Orlando Chairman at marabommarito58@gmail.com.
Judith Martin-Straw
Photo credit – Italian tile work from a Roman era ruin
